Plasma is still a good choice - Part 2
by Kevin RayMyth #5: Owning a good plasma TV is cost-prohibitive -- at least for now anyway.
This is really two myths rolled into one. The first has to do with how plasma display prices are structured. You probably remember the days in the mid-90s when plasma TVs started at $10,000 and had virtually no price ceiling: well, not any more. The growing demand for plasma displays, combined with advancements in production efficiency (“yield rates”), have conspired to knock plasma TV prices back down to earth. You can get bigger and better performing plasma TVs for a fraction of the price you might have paid a couple years ago. (These days, you can buy a 42” EDTV Plasma for $2700.) This is partly due to 90% coming off the production line ready for sale, compared to just 50% in 1999, and fewer than 20% in the early 90s. Further suppressing prices is the fact that the defect rate of Japanese-made plasma TVs in the U.S. has dropped to less than 1% of the total product import. Just because plasma TV prices have dropped over the past few years does not necessarily mean that these declining prices will continue well into the future.
As of spring 2004, plasma production levels were high, defect rates low (< 1%), and price reductions were still dropping as a total percentage of product cost. Consumers should always expect to pay premium prices for cutting-edge technology, but just not as steep as before. 42” EDTV plasma TVs should bottom out at around $1500 - $2000 by 2006 or so. In short, plasma technology has never been more affordable or reliable for the average consumer.
Myth #6: Plasma TVs are engineered to have the best possible pictures right out of the box.
It is not well known that some consumer electronics manufacturers ship their TVs “hot” -- that is, preset to compensate for brighter-than-average ambient light levels as is found in most electronics superstores. The typical home is nothing like these harshly-lit retail outlets, so it is a good idea to view the various PICTURE settings already programmed into your TV, and identify the right one for your home, i.e., the one that suits you best. You might also try your hand at adjusting the picture yourself using any one of a number of user-friendly calibration test discs. Video Essentials by Joe Kane Productions is good because it provides a step-by-step guide to this process complete with easy-to-understand explanations of what can be complicated technical issues. A properly calibrated picture will produce more natural coloration and richer black levels.
Myth #7: Plasma TVs emit a lot of radiation.
This rumor just might be the most outlandish of the bunch, especially considering the fact that the computer monitor you may be using now is a CRT or “picture tube” type. A CRT emits considerably more radiation than a plasma display ever could. While plasma monitors do generate a tiny amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, it is barely worth mentioning because this radiation extends no more than an inch outward from the screen. (Do you know anyone who watches television that closely?) Because individual pixels are illuminated, the radiation is “contained” within the pixels themselves. This is not the case with tube-based TVs, which use an electron “gun” that fires radiation toward the screen in order to illuminate the phosphors present there. This process emits small amounts of radiation more than one foot from the screen. Don’t panic! Both plasmas and CRTs comply with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) standards for minimum TV radiation emissions which have been in place since 1969.
Myth #8: Plasma TVs are prone to suffer “burn-in”.
Burn-in, image retention, or ghosting is the result of a damaged pixel whose phosphors have been prematurely aged, and consequently glow less intensely than the phosphors of surrounding pixels. The reason is that the damaged pixel has developed a “memory” of one color that was fed to it for a sustained period of time causing it to glow continuously in a static manner. This phosphor color information can actually become “burned” into the plasma-screen glass, and in the case of permanent image retention, it does. Once these phosphors are damaged, they cannot display the same intensity of light output as the other phosphors around them. However, pixels do not suffer “burn-in” singly. They burn as a group to form a remnant of images that lingered on the TV’s screen too long thus producing a “ghost” of the static image. Examples include: network logos, computer icons, Internet browser frames, etc.
In the end the average user should not be unduly concerned with plasma TV burn-in issues because the average consumer rarely watches the same program for the extended period of time necessary to cause burn-in. With an ounce of caution, a good quality plasma display is not likely to have a problem with image retention. A viewer may periodically see temporary ghosting, but this is certainly no cause for alarm. The fact is that carelessness (i.e., not paying attention to what your TV is displaying, and for how long) is the primary “cause” of permanent burn-in.
Myth #9: Plasma TVs are terribly fragile things.
“Plasma is a fragile substance and must be handled with care to prevent damage,” declares one online retailer of plasma displays. This sounds like common sense, but don’t be fooled by a seemingly sensible statement that is really exaggerated nonsense designed to instill fear. Plasma monitors have been represented as being so fragile they seem, well, flimsy. It’s true, of course that these things can break or be broken as the result of mishandling. They do have glass screens after all! It’s also true that traveling salespeople haul these monitors all over the country with little to no trouble. Panasonic has even introduced a touch-screen application for their 6 Series plasma displays. To further this point, “e-tailers” ship these displays all over the globe. How would any of this be possible with a display that was half as “breakable” as plasmas are alleged to be? You can even lay them flat on the floor. It’s just not advisable to ship them that way.
This article provided by Kevin Ray of Custom Audio Video, LLC. Member CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association)
Website: http://custom-audio-video.com/